Is cooking an inborn ability?

[bicentennial_baby]

Sometimes I think it is...either you have it, or you don't. Yeah, you can learn, but some people really should back. away. from. the. stove/oven.

that is all. :)

[RevolutionaryActs]

1. I totally think that's true.

It also helps if you like to do it. :silly:

[bicentennial_baby]

3. After tonight's dinner debacle, I'm starting to wonder....

I can only try so much to convince certain persons that, no, meat should not be grey, leathery, and dry as a bone...I'm sorry if some people like it that way, but that means a) you have no idea what meat should taste/look/feel like, and b) you shouldn't cook for me :P

[RevolutionaryActs]

4. Grey?

EW! What kind of meat was it? x(

[bicentennial_baby]

8. A Beef Roast

which should have been pink-ish...and juicy. Instead, it was cooked into oblivion. A certain male in my house, ahem, likes his meat wellllll-done, which I've tried to tell him is heretical, as far as cooking beef, at least. Well-done says "Hi. I have no palate, and my jaw really needs a workout, after this meat has been tortured into dry rigor mortis crap"

:P

[RevolutionaryActs]

11. Eeeeee

that poor, poor roast. :(

[bicentennial_baby]

12. the poor thing, 3.66 lbs, so young

and i was *really* looking forward to it, before it became crap...I'm so sick of turkey, in all of its incarnations.... x(

[RevolutionaryActs]

13. You could always make French Dips and heat up the meat in the

Au Jus, it mght get a little tender. :shrug:

[bicentennial_baby]

14. Quel jus?

I'm at a loss..and I'm not touching the overcooked corpse, frankly... :D

but, I am getting outta my chair to make some chowdah, stat. Since I haven't eaten today, it's a good thing :)

[RevolutionaryActs]

17. Yes, eating is a good thing.

:P

[FedUpWithIt All]

16. A roast can be well cooked and tender

it just needs a lot of water.


:hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

18. I know how to cook a roast....but

some people apparently do not... x(

and for some reason, I've never needed excess liquids...but then again, i'm not afraid of pink meat :P

[FedUpWithIt All]

24. Wasn't suggesting you didn't

but for the sake all concerned being happy thought it was an easy fix.

Besides the "excess liquids" make for a kick ass vegetable beef barley soup stock. I make the soup and can it. It's excellent.

That said i am with you, i prefer a bit of pink.

[trof]

50. Granny's 'roast beef'!

Dark gray all the way through.
Later I learned to call it 'pot roast'.
I was 13 or 14 before I had rare roast beef.
I thought it was from a different animal.

[6000eliot]

2. I started when I was 34.

I'd never cooked ANYTHING before. I think I'm pretty good now (12 years later), and I no longer use recipes.

[bicentennial_baby]

6. Same here, started earlier this summer...age 29

Use recipes loosely, but I can tell that I have some talent. People love what I cook, so....But other persons, they should just avoid the kitchen at all costs...seriously.

[Jamastiene]

5. Some people can be taught to cook, but they need lots

of practice to get it right. I used to live off of tv dinners and spaghettios. My aunt started teaching me how to cook and I was horrible at it at first. Now, I am pretty good at it. She has to take the ketchup bottle from me sometimes though. I like ketchup in the damnedest things, like vegetable beef soup.

[bicentennial_baby]

7. Hey, that's ok, we all have our personal tastes, love

I love to cook... but some people just shouldn't go there, y'know?

:loveya:

[petronius]

9. I think it's an art, like any other

Most people can learn to cook competently (even well), but to truly cook, in the artistic sense, you have to feel it somewhere inside. No different than painting, or music, or photography, or poetry - you have it or you don't (as you said)...

[bicentennial_baby]

10. I agree

:)

[Sugar Smack]

15. I DON'T HAVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a baker, not a cook. Dammit; we're having hors d'oeuvres for my gf's b-day this Saturday!!

[FedUpWithIt All]

19. I am the total opposite...

i adore cooking. Detest baking


My kids do all the baking 'round here. ;)

[Sugar Smack]

22. I'll bake for you!!

:bounce:

[FedUpWithIt All]

25. Excellent!!!

Watcha makin first?
:P

I'll do the cooking ;) How do chicken wraps with prosciutto and provolone with a side of sauteed black olives and tomatoes sprinkled with feta, sound?

[Sugar Smack]

28. I'll make them!

and spinach-feta pastries, just for you! :9 You'll LOVE them!!!! :D

[FedUpWithIt All]

29. ...

:loveya:

[bicentennial_baby]

20. That's why we should live together...

I cook, you bake... :D

I almost called you tonight....near nervous breakdown, yet again, sigh.

i lovens you so :loveya:

[Sugar Smack]

21. I'll make you some baklava or a torte.

:loveya:

And always give me 5 minutes' notice so I can unplug my computer & talk to you. I will do it any time!!

:hi: :loveya:

[bicentennial_baby]

23. of course, my love

:loveya:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

26. Hey you!

:P

:loveya:

[Evoman]

27. I started cooking about three years ago after I moved out....and I've already surpassed most people

I cook delicate meals with wines, and I can make you the best pasta you've ever tasted. I use almost every herb and spice in the grocery store, even the most exotic ones. I've even invented, whole cloth, some of my own sauces. I barely use recipes, other than for ideas (never follow them).

The funny thing is that my dad and my brother are also both amazing cooks...and our respective women (including my poor mom!) aren't even close.

There are definitely intuitivie cooks...people who can smell a dish, and know what to add. In a lot of respects its about

a)Not fearing to try something new

b)getting creative and experimenting

c)Knowing a few basic rules...i.e. what kind of foods or spices go together, and which ones not so much.

d)and of course, having a good sense of taste and smell.

On edit: I suck at baking...I hate doing it, because I feel to constrained by the recipes. You also can't smell and taste as you go, which throws me off.

[Book Lover]

30. No. It is a skill like any other. (nm)

[bicentennial_baby]

31. hmmmm....i don't agree...

explain?

[Book Lover]

32. Look, my father has been a chef for over 60 years

He has taught everyone, of all skill levels, who had a genuine desire to learn, how to cook well. When I have seen people fail to learn it has been because they have a belief that cooking is a mystical alchemy and therefore unknowable by mere mortals.

[bicentennial_baby]

33. See. key phrase, "desire to learn"

as opposed to "anyone can do this, and i don't need to be taught." Big difference, imho... :)

[Book Lover]

34. Well, I didn't see too many of those in my father's kitchen :-)

If they were there, they wanted to learn! If someone has that attitude, well, prepare yourself for some very unsatisfactory meals...

[Karenca]

45. Of course it's a skill

that can learned.

I also come from a long line of foodies----my familiy consists of professional
chefs, food critics, wine masters and more. At least three members of my family completed the
course in the French Culinary Institute. Even my son is in the process of completing his
Masters in Food Science in New York University.

This thread got me curious, so I asked around, and 5 out of 5 educated
responses I
received told me that it's a skill.

[mainegreen]

35. Its not about cooking, its about loving food. nt

[LaurenG]

36. I think I just learned by watching

and then I had to screw up several (many several) dishes and then I learned not to burn things. Now it's edible.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

37. talented cooks run in my family.

though none of us learnt it from the other.

i.e. my mom is a great cook but i didnt even learn how to boil water from her. i learnt how to cook after i left home at 24. now i am a very good cook. same deal with my brother.

so maybe it does a bit...or maybe its because we are foodies that we have more of an incentive to be good cooks

[lizziegrace]

38. Nope

that part of the genetic code skipped me. I try, but my cooking is barely adequate. :(

[Dulcinea]

46. Those genes skipped me too.

My mom & sisters all enjoy cooking & are good at it. My in-laws are old world Italians & will spend hours talking about every ingredient in pasta sauce. I don't get that.

Cooking just doesn't interest me. All that mess & time for something that takes 5 minutes to eat. Kitchen work is drudgery, except for seafood. That's the only thing I like to make because I love seafood!

My older daughter likes to play at serving food. I plan to actively encourage that!

[eyepaddle]

39. If it is an inborn ability--it's the only such thing I have!

Yayyyyyyyy! I have an inborn ability!


Yaaayyyyyyy!!!! :)

Cracking eggs and not breakng the yolks is a skill which can be learned though. When I started as a short order cook man I murdered those yolks, within a few weeks I could blaze through a gross of 'em with one in each hand and never hurt the yolk. Never did go so far as to get two in each hand though; it seemed like more troouble than it was worth.

[ScreamingMeemie]

40. I don't know. I enjoy cooking, and people enjoy what I cook.

I think perhaps that is where it starts. The love of the art. For cooking is an art. And then there's my mother in law, who is a very good painter/sculpter/sketch artist...who cooks everything blood dry (even vegetables) and then places every herb she can think of in the pot with a splash of Lambrusco. I agree with you that there are some who will really not ever have a clue.

[MissMillie]

41. I think one can learn to cook

But I think what is inborn is a sense of what combinations of ingredients will combine well.

[Sanity Claws]

42. To an extent

I think everyone is capable of doing some basic things, like scrambled eggs or roasting meat. Most people can follow simple recipes with no problem. I think the inborn talent comes in when one has to deviate from written recipes and substitute ingredients or create a new dish.

[ThomCat]

43. Not at all.

I couldn't cook worth a damn until college, when I just suddenly got it and I've been an excellent cook ever since.

[eyesroll]

44. I think anyone can learn to be an excellent cook...but they have to want to learn,

and be willing to learn, and admit they don't know everything...and THAT is probably more nature than nurture.

[China_cat]

47. My sisters and I had to learn to cook

in self-defense. Our mother was the worst.

[WCGreen]

48. I think it is inate....

On the creative side of the brain....

[SOteric]

49. No.

Not just a plain 'no' however.

Any moron can learn to apply heat to food in a manner so as to sustain themself. I once watched a friend of mine teach severely learning disabled children to make toast, so I know this is true.

Much like painting, writing and playing the piano, technical proficiency at cooking can be attained. In fact, given the desire and no obvious stumbling blocks, most anyone can excel at the skills and technical proficiencies to prepare exquisite meals.

But the something extra, the 'gift' for pairing flavours, for innovation, for elevating the act of sustenance to the level of Art, that is something which I believe is inborn. Just as not every student capable of perfectly executed etudes is Mozart, not every culinarian able to put a meal on the table is Careme.

[NMDemDist2]

51. not cooking so much, but taste is

my stepmother (who is a superlative cook) can recreate a sauce from the taste if she enjoyed it at a resturant

i am an OK cook but don't have her inate ability to discern flavors. i have the mechanics down ok but that's it

[zanne]

52. Only interior decorating is inborn.

I meant to say congenital. Ask Martha Stewart.

[Left Is Write]

53. I think the ability to cook well is a talent like any other -

some people have it, some people don't; those who don't have it can learn proficiency, and those who do have it can develop it into a true art.

Of course, like any talent, I'd say there are degrees. I'm a good cook, but not chef material.

[skygazer]

54. I think it is to a certain extent

I've been cooking for years - 3 kids, husbands, etc. - but I've never gotten any good at it. I can muddle through a recipe but I have no imagination when it comes to cooking and I make the same 3 dishes over and over and over again.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, is a kitchen virtuoso. He learned by watching his dad who could cook. He just tosses in a bit of this and a handful of that and the next thing you know, you have a perfectly cooked gourmet meal on your plate.

I, however, got the baking gene. Baking makes sense to me - cooking does not. :eyes:

[u4ic]

55. Bah! It's easy...

just add plenty of garlic. :P

[Avalux]

56. i think so; it's a creative endeavor.

Just about anyone can follow a recipe, but experimentation and the willingness to spend hours in the kitchen just for the joy of it is a special talent.

[Mojambo]

57. I don't have it. I just don't.

It really irritates me when people say, "It's not that hard, you just follow a set of directions!"

Yeah, well the same could be said about heart surgery.

I will be eating out of boxes for the rest of my life.

[astral]

58. Some people may be born with it

but for the most part one learns to cook better and better over the years by DOING. When I was younger I did okay with sauteed vegetables in a cast-iron pan, but made many a pot of soup that I thought would be a masterpiece that I had to allow myself to throw away after forcing myself to down one bowl of it.

I learned gradually, the hard way, trusting my 'instincts' (which didn't exist before I had some experience TRYING to cook) and now, it's the exception not the rule that I make something I don't enjoy eating.

Recipes? Occasionally browsing a few recipes gives me ideas, but I can't seem to bring myself to actually FOLLOW one!